Music Choices: The Greatest Show Unearthed by Creature Feature, Ordinary and Guilty by YONAKA
Author's Notes: Sup gang, sorry it's been a minute. Hope you're all doing well and staying safe out there. Just to check in, I'd say this story overall (or Eclipse) is close to half way done. Still gotta wrap this arc before starting the Vacuo/Vytal Tournament arc; and weave in the rest of the present chapters, before starting the stories focused on RWBY and everything they're going to have to deal with. I've considered splitting Eclipse up into a Part I and a Part II, with Part I ending here soonish. (and explosively)
Which, to be honest, a big part of me wants to wrap Part I and then carry on into the bigger stuff with RWBY; considering I know how Part II is going to have a lot of tournament stuff/plot points that don't necessarily flow into the present chapters and their themes as well as what is happening in Part I. Part I has most of the momentum/correlation to the present, you see, and I'm loathe to waste it.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is, I could keep writing for STRQ forever, really; and in some form or another I plan to. I'm very attached to these characters. But at some point in this series, I'm going to have to move on or I'll probably never reach the present. It's taken two years to reach this point in the story, and it'll probably take that long to get to the end of the Vacuo arc. That's a long damn time. lol.
So, I wanted to see what you all thought. Maybe it doesn't matter to you either way, but I was curious to know what you all would prefer. Would you prefer me to wrap Part I and carry on permanently into the present? Or to complete the Vytal tournament before doing so? Either way, I'm going to keep writing for this universe.
Eclipse
Chapter 56
Drain
"The weregild for this plan will be much too high, Waiting."
The scent of spruce, bergamot and unnamed feral things clung to his bony faceplate and the back of his dark tongue as he crouched in the shadows of the woods beyond Vale. Before him was a scrying pool of black ink and bloody glyphs, crafted by his own claws; a creation of Grimm magic, fueled by the smoldering embers of the Dark God whose power still ran through every Grimm and in all the shadowed, ugly places of the world.
The voice that vibrated through the black liquid was his patroness, whose typically laughing eyes were serious as granite as she appraised him from her own scrying device half a world away. He sighed impatiently, glancing irritably at the cooling corpse of the Hunter next to him. The gormless expression he saw there prompted him to roll his eyes as he glanced back at his patroness.
"You always. Say that," he groused.
"I do not," Ciara's ginger brow raised beyond her wild locks. "But when I do, I'm always right, am I not?"
He shook his head, refusing to give up. Too much was at stake; Ciara, despite her typical wisdom, was currently being shortsighted. Fortunately, he was not afraid to argue with her; he also knew he was perhaps one of the only people on Remnant who could claim that and mean it.
Nearby, one of the other Unseelie that had 'assisted' him giggled as he played with corpses' hands. Waiting ignored him.
"No. You are not. Always right," he insisted gravelly. Ciara's eyes narrowed at that, but she wasn't genuinely angry at the comment. He knew her buttons, afterall. "Want. Examples?"
"Tch! Like what?" she scoffed in disbelief.
"Like. With the twins," he cocked his head cheekily, aware that he was poking the bear. Nearby, the other Unseelie was putting on a puppet show with the dead Huntsman, to the entertainment of the Unseelie giggling in the branches above.
"Not funny," Ciara warned, her face growing tense. "Waiting? That is not funny."
"Not trying. To be funny," he grumbled. "I saved them. You know? I was right."
He didn't typically need validation from his patrons; it was foolish to expect such, he had learned that over the years. However, no matter how many centuries he went on existing, there remained the childish part of him that craved acknowledgement and praise for his successes. It was embarrassing, really.
Ciara sighed through her nose lightly, giving him a gentler look instead of more admonishment.
"Aye. I know. You were right."
His bony tail whipped and curled, betraying his pleased emotions where perhaps his faceplate could not.
"But," she started, leaning in across the table in her tent. He rolled his eyes and mouthed 'butt' to himself. "Yes, but , this is a very, very different scenario. One whose impact could throw the entire planet into upheaval-"
"Good. Let it. Upheave," he bobbed.
The others mimicked him delightedly, even parroting him with the dead Huntsman.
"Upheave! Upheave? Upheave!"
"Wa- No! No bloody upheave!" Ciara bemoaned in frustration. "Because guess who always dies when war between the Kingdoms breaks out? We do! Nine out ten times, it's us and the other free folk who perish first! The blood price for this would ultimately be free lives and faunus refugees, I can guarantee it!"
And, of course, the Grimm. But he didn't remind her of that. That was a given, and it's not like it stuck for long anyways.
The other Unseelie continued chanting 'Upheave' through the leaves, bobbing up and down excitedly until he cracked his tail in annoyance and they quieted briefly; a soft whisper of 'Upheave' giggled in the bushes behind him, but that was it. He snorted in disdain.
New spawns were always so annoying.
"There would be. No war. You don't listen," he grumbled, pouting a bit. She eyed him skeptically, but didn't interrupt. "I'm not. Just pulling this. Out of my ass. The mercenary aetheri. Sang it. Foresaw it. We can do this. With no casualties. On our side. Or a war."
Ciara pulled a teacup into view, taking a swig like she was downing ale, and setting it down firmly.
"One - anything coming from them is immediately suspect and must be verified," she insisted. He expected no less, considering who they were dealing with. "And two - there will always be casualties, love. Just ones we can't predict or know about until it is too late. However, that doesn't mean we should take no action. Or we'd only ever get fuck all done, wouldn't we?"
"This plan. Has an expiration date," he leaned forwards, pressing his pale face plate close to the ichor. Ciara, seated in her tent a continent away, did not withdraw. He did not make her uncomfortable and never had. "It must be verified. Immediately. I would suggest. Strong-arming. Reaper into doing it. But she's currently here. With me. Unfortunately."
Ciara perked up at that, pushing stray ginger locks behind her ear. Someone in the tent said something to her, and she turned to answer, before leaning in closer.
"Reaper is in Vale? She's supposed to be keeping an eye on the situation in Vacuo, what happened?"
He shrugged his wings.
"I think. Her apprentice. Ran off."
Ciara squinted, glancing away in thought.
"And Reaper abandoned her post in Vacuo to track her down? Is she not hunting the traitor currently?"
"She is. But I don't think. They're the reason. She's here," he glanced off to the right. He was currently up on a mountain slope to the north of the Vale. Even from here, he could see the Kingdom's lights in the dark. "My guess? The apprentice. Is at Beacon."
Ciara's eyes widened.
"Why in goddess' name would she go there?"
"Don't know. But, what else. Would make Reaper. Panic?" Waiting asked, cocking his head. In the trees, the others whispered and giggled the word 'Panic' over and over, like tossing a toy back and forth between clawed hands.
Ciara considered this, pulling the teacup into view again.
"True. But if that apprentice is at Beacon, then she is-"
"Totally. Screwed," he nodded sagely. Ciara sighed in chagrin.
All the aetheri with any brains know that you don't go near Beacon, ever . Well, the ones that weren't totally ignorant about magic or being an aetheri, anyways. Active magic users did not thrive close to him.
The twins and Summer seemed to be the exception, because the warlock thought he could use them. For now anyways. If they didn't get STRQ up to speed on the magical dos and do nots, and how to avoid the warlock's ire, then it was likely that grace period wouldn't last long.
Keeping them in the dark had protected them up til this moment, yes. But after a certain critical intersection, secrecy did more harm than good; and they were at that point, if they hadn't already passed it.
Personally? He'd been against the whole idea from the get go. Not that anyone ever asked him what he thought about it; not like he was one of the only people around who knew the warlock best and how he thought or anything. Nooooo.
Raven and Qrow should have never set foot in that place. Now their individual wyrd were so entangled with other forces and the entities plucking those strings, that it would be impossible to extricate them from the bigger stage that they were now permanent players on.
He didn't have the heart to tell Ciara, but he felt he knew exactly how this would play out; and he didn't need prophetic dreams. Ultimately, they would either become the warlock's puppets or his adversaries. They couldn't play the middle path with the warlock, because to him, the middle path was just as wrong as those who served Salem. Perhaps even worse.
Waiting still wasn't entirely certain why they had sent the twins to Beacon in the first place, though he had a theory. The whole 'learning how to kill Hunters' bit had been a ploy on the Morrigan's part, to swerve some dark destiny she saw haunting their heels in her visions. The only thing Waiting could think of that would spook Nwyfre enough to dare send her children blindly into the lion's den for safety? Was that the thing haunting their heels was an even bigger, scarier predator, and a much more immediate danger to their lives.
So, obviously. Salem.
Waiting knew she'd been recruiting recently, amping up for yet another one of her 'end of civilization' extravaganzas. Twas the season for it, afterall, and her living servants had been extremely active in both Mistral and Vacuo as of the last decade. A few had infiltrated the local governments - as was tradition - and even several of the free tribes (before being violently removed). If there was a chance that one of her actors had or would set their sights on the twins for some purpose or scheme of their Mistress's - or if the Morrigan had any reason to believe that they had - then such a high risk play would make sense.
The warlock was extremely dangerous, of course.
But Salem?
Salem wasn't someone whose direct attention you wanted. Ever. At least, if you were alive and planned to stay that way. If she wanted something from you personally? Then she was going to get it. She had the time, the patience, and the power, to achieve it. Next to nothing could stand between her and whatever she set her sights on, save for the warlock; and sometimes, not even him.
"I'll reach out to Reaper then, to see if she needs a little assistance ," Ciara hummed, pulling him from his thoughts as she moved something out of sight of the pool. He snorted.
"Like she. Would ever admit it."
One of the Unseelie above him turned sharply, head cocking as they listened to some distant sound. A scent was on the breeze, tickling his spine.
Hunters had entered the area, right on schedule. It was time to clean up and get sparse.
"Oh, of course not," Ciara chuckled. "She would never! Buuut I'm sure if I ask for something like a verification, then she can frame it as owing her a favor and not as me saving her arse yet again."
"You need. Better friends," he growled irritably, jerking his head at one of the new spawns. They babbled and hopped down, and began arranging the body and weapon; with the bullethole under the Huntsman's chin, they were making it look like a suicide. Couldn't risk stirring up more Hunters in the region, nor leave any evidence of Grimm magic; especially on the warlock's doorstep. Though it would be a little funny, he had to admit. The sheer audacity of it would rattle his cage for certain.
"Oh, perhaps. I'll be in touch, love, shouldn't take long to verify. Until then, stay safe out there, ok? Don't take unnecessary risks."
He nodded, trying to ignore the pleased curling of his tail.
"I'll try. My best," he said wryly, before dismissing the spell. Next to him, one of the others was mimicking him.
"I'll try. My best. Ciara," the Unseelie taunted, blowing a raspberry at him. "You're so lame. Kissing human arse-"
Waiting blinked slowly, before his much longer, spinier tail whipped out and caught the younger Grimm around the neck. Red eyes bugged out in surprise as he tightened coldly.
"Shut. The fuck up. And get moving. Ink stain."
He stared around the other surprised little faces, before snarling.
"Sometime. Before we all. Get dusted? Move it!"
They scattered like inky leaves into the shadowed trees, tittering and growling under their breaths. Waiting dropped the other Grimm on the ground in disdain, who promptly hissed and ran into the trees to sulk; he sniffed haughtily before moving to clean up the blood glyphs and ichor. In less than a minute, it looked like an undisturbed, moonlit forest floor and nothing more.
When the Hunters arrived on scene, looking for their missing party member, they found only a tragedy. Though it was hard to miss the unnatural chill in the air that clung to their skin, and made the hairs on their napes stand on end.
"Well that was fun," Qrow drawled, resting his hands behind his head as he walked beside her. Raven didn't respond, lost in her thoughts as she tried to plan ahead.
Things had, once again, become drastically more complicated. However, she hoped this trade off would alleviate some of the pressure they were feeling if nothing else. She tried to pull herself back to the present, less she work her nerves back up again thinking about everything she had to accomplish within the next few weeks. It was genuinely daunting.
She bit back a yawn, her limbs feeling as if they were weighted down. She hadn't felt this exhausted in a very long time.
"So uh," her brother glanced her way, before looking back over his shoulder. Taiyang and Summer were walking together, talking quietly. "You're comin back to the room tonight, right?"
Raven watched a cloud being dismantled by gales thousands of feet above them, turning into silver mist in the moonlight.
"I don't know," Raven muttered, her tone flat edge. She sounded as tired as she felt and she knew it. "I might just go sleep in ARSN's room."
"Rae, you're not gonna get any damn sleep in ARSN's room, and ya know it," Qrow chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulder and shaking her a little.
"I'm not gonna get any damn sleep in our room, either," Raven droned, brushing his arm off her irritably. "We're going to get there and spend the rest of the night talking, or yelling or whatever the hell, and I….I am so sick of talking. And explaining myself. I just…"
She just wanted to switch her brain and her anxiety off for at least a little while; no thoughts, no schemes, no hyper-fixating on the things she couldn't control or the things that terrified her. She wanted a break from herself and from the people she disappointed.
"Could sleep outside, ya know? It's a nice night," he looked up at the moon with a half smile. She quirked an eyebrow as they turned towards the walkway that led up to the dorms.
"Like, raider style?"
"Naw, bird style!" Qrow cackled, almost bouncing on his toes. "You haven't tried it yet?"
Raven scoffed, tossing her hair out of her face as the wind picked up around them.
"Tried what? Sleeping in a tree?" she sneered.
"Yea!" Qrow hooted, grinning at her. "It's fun! Look, I'll show ya - you don't know what you're missing!"
This was, apparently, what he'd been doing on some of the nights when he didn't come back to the room himself; not that anyone ever nagged him for it, which was completely unfair.
"We just got out of the Headmaster's office not even five hot seconds ago for using magic on campus," Raven nearly stopped in the walkway. "And you want to do it again?"
"No, see - you got in trouble for magic use," he pressed his hand to his chest. "I got off scott free. And besides, he didn't say don't shift on campus; he said don't piss off his security guards! Shiftin on campus doesn't piss off the security, or I'd probably already be dead."
Raven snorted, shaking her head. The double doors to the dorms were only a few feet away, and she really didn't have the energy for flying at the moment. Before she could shoot her brother's grand idea down, however, they were interrupted.
"Hey guys? Maybe that's not the best idea right this second."
Raven glanced over her shoulder. Tai had come up behind them, while Summer was apparently hanging back, looking unnaturally indecisive.
"Maybe it's a good idea at some point, in the very distant future?" he continued, folding his arms. "But right now, that would probably be pretty fucking stupid."
She sighed through her nose.
Oh boy...
"Hey, blondeness? We don't actually need a fuckin babysitter," Qrow glared immediately, his voice dipping almost into a growl. He hated being called stupid. "We're not actually fuckin morons, you do realize that right?"
Heeere we go.
"Hey, woa, chill," Tai held his palms up, his voice still even. "I don't think you're morons. Ok? I do think, though, that you're probably tired and maybe not thinking clearly-"
Raven rubbed between her eyes in frustration.
"Oh yea, that's why you called us stupid right? Because we're tired? What are we, five? Fuck outta here-"
She briefly considered just walking inside and leaving them out here to fight. She didn't have the energy for this.
"Ok, Qrow!?" Tai snapped finally, blue eyes hardening. "Shut the fuck up! For five fucking seconds!"
Qrow blinked in surprise, before his lip pulled combatively. Raven nudged her brother with her foot and he hesitated, giving Tai time to continue.
"I don't think you're stupid!" Taiyang barreled on, his face and tone taking on a more mature tone than normal. "I do t hink one of your biggest triggers is the need to rebel against an authority figure you don't respect! Especially who's been trying to tell you what you can and can't do! And Oz is well aware of that!"
Tai gestured sharply back towards the tower. Urgently trying to get his point across.
"Don't let him bait you into doing something he can use against you! Ok?! Because after everything tonight, if there is one thing I definitely know!? It's that that guy is scary fucking manipulative! And he has all our numbers!"
Qrow's face softened from a sneer into something skeptical, but non-hostile. He brushed his hair back to soothe himself.
"I dunno about that," Qrow mumbled, his face actually turning a bit red in embarrassment. "You might have a bit of a point, but he's not...and I'm not that fuckin predictable-"
She inspected her fingernails, refusing to give her opinion on that .
"You are when it comes to this kinda thing, absolutely," Taiyang insisted firmly, moving in to shake his shoulder. Qrow glared at his partner's fingers but Tai didn't let go. "I don't mean that in a bad way, and I'm sorry if I'm phrasing this shittily. I'm just trying to say that we all have our own vulnerabilities that can be exploited by someone who is that experienced with mental manipulation and coercion! And who knows next to everything there is to know about us! He's pushing your buttons, dude! He's pushing ALL of our buttons! At the same time!"
Raven thought about their blonde little professor, whose values seemed totally at odds with the person or entity she was working alongside. Raven stared at her teammates, drawing parallels; she glanced up at the tower where the Headmaster resided.
"Alright, say that's a little true," Qrow groused, scratching behind his ear nervously. "What do you suggest we do to unpush our buttons? Cuz shifting is what helps me get a clear head these days."
Taiyang pointed up at the dorm room urgently, reaching behind him and almost scooping Summer into the huddle with them, before squishing the lot together; Summer flushed awkwardly and tried not to make eye contact with her, her ears drooping in embarrassment. Raven glared at Taiyang, aware that her neck was bright red.
Tai didn't give a shit. He was in complete damage control mode, and was apparently determined to shepherd them up the stairs and into the dorm room en masse. They made eye contact, and she raised a challenging eyebrow out of habit more than anything else.
"Upstairs," Tai nodded firmly, his expression brokering no bullshit, from her or from any of them. "Everybody upstairs to the room! We don't even have to talk! We can just sleep! But no running off, no magical horseshit, no fighting, no nothing! Just chill sleepy time, and probably should eat something. I will turn on the tv so it isn't totally awkward."
Summer cleared her throat a little, trying to pull back out of Tai's bear hug to look at him. His response was to squish the three of them together even tighter, looking almost cheerfully persistent; it was the same look he got before he grappled a Grimm with his bare hands.
In fact, Raven was certain that he would try to grapple all three of them if he had to and physically carry them into the room. She wasn't sure he could do it, but she knew he would absolutely try. That and he would be way more successful than any of them might want to admit.
Needless to say, Taiyang was genuinely stressed; because when Taiyang was genuinely stressed, he went into ultra-protector mode exactly like he was doing now. Arguing with him in this state was unproductive and would yield no good results. She had tried previously, at least twice, when he had tried to corral her or his other teammates like a big, blond guard-dog due to his own anxiety. From this experience, she had learned that there was only walking away and coming back to talk later when they were both feeling less stubborn and nervous; or conceding.
Which, up until this point in their relationship, Raven had never conceded anything to Taiyang without a fight; or at least some kind of ritualized peacocking that they both engaged in and seemed to potentially enjoy despite the conflict. Until now, she had always held him at arm's length, as if she subconsciously believed that if she brought him any closer, he would accidentally burn her to a crisp; and he had always refused to show her his throat, in the event that she sank her teeth in and tore it out.
They had, in the end, both been scared of each other's claws and razor edges, and the potential wounds they could endow; and there had not been enough trust from either party for them to be intentionally vulnerable around the other.
However, this dynamic had changed recently, for obvious reasons.
"Ok," she tried to concede gracefully, considering the circumstances. "Upstairs."
Tai bobbed, before staring at his partner. Qrow huffed, grumbling something under his breath that could be interpreted as 'upstairs'. Tai tipped his head down to look at Summer, whose back was pressed into his chest. Summer's face was still an embarrassed shade of pink.
Summer nodded in acquiescence, still trying to half-heartedly unsquish herself from the group and not succeeding - not that she didn't have a Semblance that could solve this problem instantly or anything - and Taiyang beamed.
"Good! I'm glad we're all on the same page! Now - up we go!"
Raven's eyes widened as a portal suddenly opened under STRQ's feet; there was a soft yip from Summer, and a colorful curse from Qrow, as the four of them fell down and then up, gravity playing with their since of equilibrium as they all spilled out awkwardly onto Taiyang's bed. Tai recovered instantly, hopping onto the carpet to beam at the trio untangling themselves.
"Contingency portal! Now then, I'll make food, since most of you cannot cook dinner to save your lives!"
Qrow flipped Tai off instantly, while Summer squawked in protest at this libel.
"Hey!" Summer pulled herself free of the tangle, her face still pink. "I can too!"
"I mean," Tai grinned cheekily. "You can bake , yea."
Summer's ears flattened as she puffed up a little. He beamed, trying to tease and distract her from everything else.
"I can cook just as good as you can, Taiyang, and you flipping know it," Summer folded her arms. "You, however? Cannot frickin bake to save your life. Anyone's life. You make wimpy little baked goods!"
Tai pressed a palm to his chest in mock offense.
"Not true! I can bake some killer cookies and everyone knows it! Unlike somebody!"
He glanced at Raven and stuck out his tongue, trying to get her involved. She rolled her eyes habitually, pushed off his bed and headed to the bathroom to clean up; before she passed out right where she was sitting. She did not care about the quality of her baked goods.
Well. For the most part.
"I can make cookies," she grumbled under her breath, flicking the bathroom light on.
She could. She'd taught herself; it wasn't as hard as she had expected. They might not be "killer" or whatever, but she could make them in the event of an emergency.
Raven paused, inspecting herself. Her reflection looked, well, rough. She squinted at the mirror a little suspiciously, feeling like it was staring back at her; after a moment, she took the damn thing off the wall and turned it around, leaning it against paint. Until they could get protections on it, she didn't want to risk spies or other weirdness.
With a soft huff, Raven turned the shower on, unceremoniously tossed her clothes and gear into a heap and set to vigorously brushing her teeth; eventually satisfied, she clambered into the shower and promptly sat down under the showerhead, resting her chin on her knees as she was drenched. She willed her thoughts to turn off and tried to focus on nothing but the downpour, closing her eyes.
She must have lost track of the time, or perhaps even drifted off for a bit, because there was a knock next to the shower.
"-aven?"
She hadn't even heard the door open.
"Mm?" she mumbled.
Awkward shuffling. She pushed drenched locks out of her eyes.
"Did you fall asleep in there?" Summer asked, her shadow visible through the curtain.
Raven cleared her throat.
"Mmn. No."
"...Uh huh," Summer's shadow nodded skeptically. "Well. We're gonna go to bed ok?"
Raven could hear the undercurrent of cautious hurt in Summer's voice still; it made her chest physically ache. Reflexively, she stuck her hand out past the curtain and held it up; there was little to no pause before Summer pushed her own hand into hers.
After a beat, Summer sank down onto the tiles next to her, still holding her hand through the curtain gap. Neither of them said anything for a long time, just listening to water rush like white noise.
Raven squeezed her partner's fingers a little tighter.
"Hey?" she prompted. Summer shuffled a little. "I love you. You know that, right?"
Summer nodded, her shoulder shaking the plastic. Raven could feel little bursts of feeling across their bond, but currently it wasn't overwhelming.
"I know," Summer murmured, playing with her fingers. "I love you, too."
"Even if I'm a huge fuckup?" Raven drawled, her tone dry.
A pause as Summer pulled back the curtain a little so she could see her face.
"I don't think you're a fuckup," Summer insisted quietly.
If she didn't think that now, then boy, she was going to tomorrow after Raven told her everything.
Some doubt must have crossed her expression, because her partner pushed wet hair out of her face to kiss her cheek. She could feel her neck heat up.
"I think you try really hard to do what you think is the right thing," Summer pulled back a little, but cupped her cheek with her free hand. "And sometimes? You get it wrong. Because you're a person, Raven, and people mess up. I mess up, we all mess up. But that doesn't make us 'fuck ups' ."
Raven played with Summer's fingers, aware that she was getting her partner's pajama sleeves a bit wet from the shower. Summer did not currently seem to mind however.
"I'm not going to stop loving you just because you mess up sometimes," Summer pressed her forehead against her hand gently. "Even if you do something that really pisses me off, I will still love you, and will still try to work with you to solve whatever the problem is. And I really hope that you know that."
Raven pressed into her palm, closing her eyes for a moment. She exhaled softly and pulled away.
"I'm sorry. There's….there's a lot of really bad stuff going on, Summer," Raven muttered, watching the water circle around the drain. "I feel like I've been playing that game that's at the arcade. You know the one? Where you hit the Creep with the mallet, and then two more pop up? Then three? And you just hit as many as you possibly can, but it's never really enough? You can't actually win the game, just rack up points until you eventually lose?"
Summer's ears flicked as she tilted her head in thought.
"Yea, I know the one," Summer leaned against the wall, studying her. "Tai always makes us play it."
"Right. Well I feel like I keep hitting the monsters that pop up," Raven admitted, squeezing her arms around her legs. "But for every one that I stop? I just make a dozen more. And they end up hurting the people I care about."
Summer nodded, but a mischievous little smirk started to spread from the corner of her mouth, infectious in it's humor.
"That's why you're supposed to play with more than one person, babe."
Raven blinked, raising her brow incredulously.
"Wait a second - isn't that cheating?" Raven asked in disbelief. "That's cheating, right?"
Summer wiggled a little, a shit eating grin on her face.
"Sweetheart, didn't you know?" Summer pressed her hands to her cheeks. "That if you're not cheating, you're not trying?"
Raven gaped as Summer giggled a little wickedly.
"Have you guys been hustling the arcade without me?" Raven asked, sounding almost offended.
She was almost offended. Just a little.
"No! It was like literally one time, but also, my point is that, when you're faced with overwhelming bullshit? Or too many monsters to smash with one hammer? Then it makes sense to tag in someone else to help you," Summer brushed a tangle behind her ear. "Neither humans nor faunus survived this long on this crazy planet by fighting off the monsters solo. We did it with the help of the people we love. You don't have to fight the ugly stuff all by yourself. Ok?"
She glanced at Summer's lips and before she could say anything else, dipped in and stole a kiss. She was aware that she was probably dripping and getting her girlfriend damp from the shower water, but she didn't care. Fingers threaded in her hair, tugging her closer. She hummed pleasantly at the sensation.
"Ok. Thanks," Raven murmured against Summer's mouth when she finally came up for air.
"Mnn. We'll sort this crap out together, ok? It might not be easy, but nothing worth it ever is," Summer kissed her again, before pulling away. "So, please come to bed? Before you fall asleep in here again and turn into the prune lady?"
"Prune lady?" Raven snorted, swatting at the handle. Summer didn't answer, having already moved into the dorm room and closed the door behind her; the water cut off, and a chill hit her skin as she shoved the curtains all the way back.
The mirror was still facing the wall as Raven dried herself off; yet she couldn't help but continue to give it cautious glances, like a closet door open at her back. With a parting glare, she pulled her towel tight around herself and slipped out to find some clean pajamas, flicking the lights off behind her.
She didn't see the fingers curling around the frame of the mirror; or when they eventually slipped away, and disappeared once again.